District Attorney George Gascon details three misdemeanor charges filed against Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday, Jan. 13, 2012, following an alleged domestic violence incident at Mirkarimi's home on New Years Eve.

For all the confidence District Attorney George Gascónexpressed in announcing the three misdemeanor charges against the town's newly installed sheriff, Ross Mirkarimi, winning a domestic violence conviction will not be a slam dunk.

"It's always preferable to have the victim supporting our efforts, but it's common not to in these kinds of cases," says Christine DeBerry, Gascón's chief of staff.

From the get-go, Mirkarimi and his wife have refused to talk to police or prosecutors about the events surrounding the New Year's Eve incident that resulted in Eliana Lopez running to a neighbor with a tale of domestic abuse while her husband was in the shower.

And while the neighbor's photographs of Lopez's bruised arm and accompanying text messages could be damning, without Lopez being willing to testify, they may be hard to enter as evidence.

Prosecutors say they repeatedly reached out to the couple - even offering domestic violence services to Lopez - but there was no response.

Instead, Mirkarimi and his wife hired a pair of lawyers to act as go-betweens.

About the only communication came when Lopez's attorney, Cheryl Wallace, showed up at the D.A.'s office for Gascón's news conference, only to be turned away because she lacked press credentials.

Mirkarimi and his wife's public exclamations of innocence - while at the same time refusing to cooperate with police - have particularly rankled the D.A., especially since Mirkarimi is now in law enforcement himself.

As for the politics of the case, Gascón clearly has the upper hand. Mirkarimi's hints that the case is being pumped up by his political opponents may be true - but with domestic violence, it either happened or it didn't.

So far, Mayor Ed Leeis playing wait and see. "The statement we released was deliberately and carefully crafted to say everything and nothing at the same time," said one senior aide to the mayor.

Whatever the outcome, the Mirkarimi who appeared before cameras Friday afternoon was a far cry from the Mirkarimi who went into work that morning.

Gone was the relaxed smile, booming voice and confidence that was on display earlier in the week when he started his job - replaced by the near-breaking voice of someone who had just been hit by a truck.

District Attorney Gascón, on the other hand, exited the Hall of Justice on Friday the picture of calm and confidence.

Hot seats: The 49er Faithful who have stuck it out all these years at the 'Stick and even Kezar Stadium are falling down with sticker shock over the team's plan to charge them $20,000 to $30,000 a seat - plus $325 a ticket per game - for comparable seats at the new Santa Clara stadium.

For a family of four, that adds up to a minimum of $80,000 up front for club-level seats - plus $13,000 a year for tickets.

"They're pricing themselves out of the market for most middle-class people," said San Francisco accountant Mark Brittain, whose family has had season tickets to the Niners since the 1950s.

The 49ers are willing to finance the seats, but at 8 percent interest.

Chief seat salesman Al Guido tells us the five-figure fees are comparable to what other teams are getting at new stadiums.

In Dallas, for example, seats went for $16,000 to $150,000 apiece - with tickets at $340 each.

And the Giants and Jets are getting from $12,500 to $35,000 apiece for club seats at the Meadowlands.

Guido says the 49ers' price structure covers just 9,000 club seats in the 68,500-capacity stadium. He said it's "just too early to assume" affordable good seats won't be available elsewhere in the stadium for the longtime fans.

Family ties: San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee isn't kidding when he refers to fellow officials as being part of the "city family."

Take his nomination of City Purchaser Naomi Kelly to his old job as city administrator.

Kelly first came to City Hall under the tutelage of former Mayor Willie Brown.

In fact, Brown officiated at her wedding to another Brown protege, Harlan Kelly, an assistant GM at the city Public Utilities Commission. And the wedding party included then-City Administrator Ed Lee.

Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX-TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or e-mail matierandross@sfchronicle.com.